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Western Growers: 1st NAS Delta water study released, data lacking

Posted by: Maven on March 20, 2010 at 6:41 am

From PR Newswire, this press release from Western Growers:

“IRVINE, Calif., March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif issued the following statement today regarding the National Academy of Science’s (NAS) release of its first report on the Endangered Species Act-based restrictions on water pumping operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta:

“We commend the NAS for this first report, which was produced in a very short period of time. The NAS focused on the scientific validity of the actions imposed by the federal fish agencies to restrict water pumping operations and attempted to identify alternative actions that would be equally or more protective of fish species while causing less economic harm to water users south of the Delta. It is interesting that the NAS characterized the impact of stressors to the fish species other than the pumps as ‘potentially large.’ These include urban wastewater discharges, predatory and invasive species, pesticide runoff and others factors. We look forward to the NAS’s second report which will thoroughly examine the impacts of these other stressors.

“The NAS’s report finds that reducing pumping to protect fish species has scientific validity, yet the report focuses on concern that ‘there is substantial uncertainty regarding the amount of flow that should trigger a reduction in exports.’ This is the heart of the matter. In fact, Senator Feinstein’s proposal to moderate the pumping restrictions within the confines of the biological opinions goes directly to this point. Lacking solid data that establishes the effectiveness of the reverse flow triggers used by federal agencies to reduce pumping, the agencies simply default to the most severe restrictions on water supply within their discretion. The agencies should require better monitoring of the effectiveness of these reverse flow restrictions and set triggers based this data, even if the result is to restore some water supply to farms and cities south of the Delta. … “

Continue reading this press release from Western Growers by clicking here.

March 20, 2010 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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